Safety-pocket.



EATENTED EEG. 29, 190s.

G. L. ESTES. SAFETY POCKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, 1993.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented ecemloer 29, 1903.

GEORGE L. ESTES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY-l POOK ET.

SEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,271, dated December 29, 1903.

Application led March 19, 1903.

To @ZZ whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. ESTES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Safety-Pocket, of which tbe following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in devices of that class used by travelers and others for concealing money, jewels, and other valuables and in which a pocket formed of leather' or other suitable material is provided with means for attaching it to an undergarment or other supporting means where its presence will not be likely to attract attention. Devices of this class have been in general use for some time, an instance of such structure being shown in Letters Patent granted to me on September 24, 1901, under Serial No. 683,029.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a ready means of securing the pocket in position and at the same time to utilize the supporting mea-ns or a portion of such supporting means as a brace for strengthening and for holding rigid the flexible materialof which the pocket is formed and particularly that portion of the material adjacent to or in alinement with the fastening means, so that there will be little or no diffi culty in opening or closing the pocket should it become necessary to do so without removing the pocket from the garment to which it is secured.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an additional securing and safety means whereby an attempt to surrepiitiously remove the pocket from position will attract the attention of the owner.

With these and other objects in view the in vention consistsin the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly'pointed outin the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacricing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a safety-pocket constructed in accordance with the invention.

Serial No. 148,599. (No model.)

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the upper portion of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation `of the upper portion of the pocket on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a slight modiication of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The safety-pocket is preferably formed of leather or other strong flexible material and is provided with a ap 1, forming a closure for the open top of the pocket. This flap is provided with one member of a securing device, in the present instance the female member 3` of a ball-and-socket fastening, the ball being suitably secured to the front portion of the pocket.

At the rear of the pocket, preferably at about the vertical center, is secured the back bar of a` safety or nursery pin 4, extending in a horizontal line across the rear portion of the pocket, so that the open bar may be readily engaged in the garment to which the pocket is to be secured.

At the top of the pocket that portion which forms the flap being integral with the back ofthe pocket is bent over and a seam 5 is sewedall the way across the pocket, said seam serving as a binding means for tlie back bar of a safety-pin 6 and the material 'of which the pocket is formed being cut away at each end of the back bar in order to allow .free swinging or pivotal movement of said back bar and permit the ready engagement and disengagement of the securing-pin with the garment, and it is preferred under all circumstances to secure the two pins' et and 64 in suchmanner that the garment and the pocket shall be taut between these two securing-pins. By arranging the back bar of the securingpin 6 at a point immediately above the flap-fastening 3 the top of the pocket andthe flap are stiffened transversely and held froma bending movementin a vertical central line. VThis stilfening of the pocket at this point is of the utmost importance, for the reason that with {lap-securing devices of the character which it is preferred to employ a vertical crease-line at this point not only interferes with free open- IOO ing and closing movement of the flap, but will in some cases effect such strain on the parts as to cause the flap to open and allow accidental discharge of the contents of the pocket. This weakness of the ordinary pocket is found highly objectionable in practice, and in some cases it is preferred to posiltively guard against such a contingency by forming the back bar integral with or securing it to a plate 6', which is extended down inside the flap and secured to the female member of the fastening, as illustrated more clearly in Fig. 4E, this additional strengthening and bracing plate serving to hold the flap 3 rigid and acting also as an additional securement for the flap-fastening means.

To guard against the surreptitious removal of the pocket, I also employ an additionalsecuring-tape lO, which is preferably in the form of a flexible strand having a concealed core formed of wire, said strand being provided with a terminal lacing-tip 1l, having a pointed end in order to facilitate its passage through the garment to which thepocket is secured. In practice one end of the securing-lacing is fastened around the hem near one edge of the pocket, as shown in Fig. l, and is thence introduced through the garment by means of the pointed tip, being afterward brought forward and passed under the back bar of the safety-pin at the center of the top portion of the pocket, the material of which the pocket is formed being slightly cut away for this purpose. The tip is then again run through the garment and brought out, being thence passed through an opening in the material at the opposite side of the pocket, being Wound once or twice around the hem and brought back to the starting-point, one or more turns being taken, and the pointed tip being thence thrust into the end of the circular pocket formed by the hem. In some cases this lacing-cord may be of a sufficient length to pass around the neck of the wearer, the loop being formed between the two points at the sides of the pocket at which the lacing is secured.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. A safety-pocket opening at the top and provided with a closing-flap, a nap-fastener carried partly by the body of the pocket and partly by the flap, said fastener being disposed approximately at the vertical center of the Hap and pocket, a rigid bar secured to the top of the pocket at the folding-line of the ap extending across the vertical plane in which the fastener is disposed, said bar serving to prevent vertical folding of the pocket in or near the line of the fastener, and a securing-pin carried by said bar, substantially as specified.

2. The combination in a safety-pocket having an open top and provided with a closingflap, of a flap-fastening means, an lupper hem formed by stitching at the top of the flap, a securing means for holding the pocket in position, and an auxiliary securing device comprising a iiexible lace having a pointed tip to thereby permit the stitching of the pocket to the supporting-garment.

3. The combination with a safety-pocket having a top opening and a closing-flap, of a Hap-fastening means, a hem formed at the top of the pocket by a row of stitching, a safetypin disposed Within the hem at a central point and serving as a stiffening and bracing means, and an auxiliary flexible tape having'one end secured around the hem and provided with a pointed tip for sewing through the supporting-garment, the end of the hem being bent to form a receiving-pocket for the pointed tip after the sewing operation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE L. ESTES. Witnesses:

DAVID STRAIN, EDNA M..WARNER. 

